Shradha - Means devotional faith- faith that Baba is the almighty and Protector,

- that both the good and the bad happening to the devotee’s life are controlled by Him,- to happily acknowledge and patiently tolerate all vicissitudes of life with equanimity,

- to realize that Baba is always with him, around him,

- to be able to sacrifice anything and everything for the cause of the Master in the manner prescribed by Him,

- to follow His dictates in letter and spirit, whatever be the consequences,- to hold on to Baba exclusively and not to run to different deities / temples for different purposes.

Saburi - i.e. patience means following actions as mentioned before without complaint, either external or mental and live normally everyday with faith in Baba.

How many people can really do this? If not, one should think on the word ‘surrender’ continuously before considering himself to be a great devotee. It is wiser to think of what we can do for Baba’s work instead of thinking what Baba can do for us.

To get perfect association with a Perfect Master, the person concerned must be a perfect devotee. Baba used to say that a devotee will experience Him as per his bhava means inner thought process. Imperfect minds will reflect an imperfect image of the Sadguru and the person will get imperfect results. It is not easy to achieve this state of mind and it is also not correct to use the word surrender so easily without understanding its full implications. The better path would be to develop the qualities prescribed by the Sadguru gradually living in the world like an ordinary man enjoying and suffering happiness and unhappiness with the Guru in the heart.”…….

A devotee should always, every moment, remember his soul relationship with Baba and feel affinity. The more we will remember, the closer we will feel with Him. This remembrance is like the life force of all other aspects of devotion, so it is of first importance.

Remembrance of any of the names, leelas, virtues, abodes, and the associates of Shirdi Sai can be done singly or collectively. So, while doing the chanting or while listening to a chant or while remembering a chant in our mind we should feel the synonymity of Blissful sweetness of Baba with the name, and, at the same time, think of any leela, or feel and imagine the presence of Baba near us.

Bhakti is the selfless remembrance of Baba. It is accompanied by the feeling of affinity and a desire to increase longing. Such a devotion purifies the heart of the devotee and qualifies it to receive the Grace of Baba. The practical and best way of Baba devotion to increase the longing for the vision of Shirdi Sai is to remember the Divine relationship and to meditate on the form and the leelas of Shirdi Sai Baba affectionately.

Baba devotees who have read Shri Sai Satcharitra experience this all the time when they chant His name and meditate on Him. It brings up nostalgic moments as if we are in Dwarkamai and He, the graceful and handsome Sai, standing on the edge of the Masjid and distributing Udi to each and every Bhakta, with a view to his welfare.

He, Who thinks of the world as an illusion and Who is ever engrossed in Supreme Bliss before Him, we humbly prostrate ourselves.

A man generally becomes egoistic due to education, wealth and indiscriminate spiritual knowledge. But he forgets that his wealth and erudition are Baba given. He thinks that these are obtained by self-effort alone and nobody has anything to do with it. Such a man's fate is like the Sun, who rises in all his glory at dawn and reaches the zenith at noon and as evening falls, disappears. Similarly, egoistic education, wealth and indiscriminate knowledge are like the glory of sunrise. As time passes, they are bound to disappear. We should give up ego and pride when we praise the greatness of Baba's superiority.

It is the duty of the wealthy to use their wealth to help those who are in real need. They should serve as a protective force to the society, especially for the poor and the needy. A man of charitable nature is always charitable. His quality is inborn. There is no need to teach him it is not easy to change the basic nature of man. A person, who is basically wicked, remains so. It is very difficult to transform him. A neem fruit can not be made sweet by pouring honey at the root of the tree. True devotion to Baba alone is the means to self- evolution. This itself is Sadhana. Such devotion prevents you from unrighteous behavior and mitigates suffering. Even if a devotee develops pride, Baba will correct him at an appropriate time by directing him to a Sadguru.

Devotees are often heard to be saying that Shri Sainath Maharaj or Baba is either angry with them or is not taking care of them as before for reasons which they fail to understand.

Such an attitude indicates a highly personalized approach. It is a unique feature of the Sai faith that the devotees get highly emotionally attached to Him even though he has no more physical presence.

Psychologically they depend a lot on Shri Shirdi Sai for solace, guidance and more importantly for getting a solution to their day to day mundane problems. For most of the devotees He is a part of their lives.

They worship Him, they read about Him, they meditate on Him, they do Naamjaap, they talk about Him a lot without getting tired and the hold Lungers and even donate alms to beggars in his name.

Some of the ardent devotees even before taking any food or drink offer it to Baba mentally. Like children they collect all sorts of photographs, trinkets and other articles related to Baba.

Such activities are a pointer to the fact that they are ever in search of Baba in their mind and soul and wish to establish an intense relationship with Him.

It has been observed that a devotee when he first enters into the fold of Shri Sai Baba’s divine and magnanimous personality gets attracted to him in a very short time which ordinary human reasoning can not explain.

When Baba was there in Shirdi many of the devotees used to go into a spiritual trance or sort of emotional hype at the very look at Baba.

Such examples find a depiction in Shri Sai Satcharitra and many other books like Khaparde’s diary etc.

Such was the attraction of the master that when a non believer like Balasaheb Bhate met Baba for the first time he just decided to stay back and settle down in Shirdi forever and later resigned from the government service only to serve Baba for the rest of his life.

Most of the devotees hold Baba’s relation with them as their most prized possession. Baba before departing from his physical embodiment had assured his devotees that he would continue to protect them from his invisible abode.

He had even said that whenever His devotees would call him earnestly he would make his presence felt in some way or the other and also render help to remove their difficulties.

Incidents happening in the lives of most of the devotees after Baba had taken Samadhi show that Baba continues to keep his promise.

Thus Shri Sainath Maharaj continues to render love, assurance, protection and faith to all his devotees.

At times being busy tackling their earthly problems, the devotees are not in a position to remember Baba as much as they used to do earlier.

In such a situation, they feel an emotional vacuum in them. Lets just understand this sense of void in the devotee when the feeling towards the Sadguru reduces in its intensity through the example of the sun and the sunlight.

The light rays continuously emanate from the sun and the sunlight falls on earth. When the sky is clouded the Sun’s rays cannot be seen.

Similarly, Baba’s love and protection towards devotees flows continuously but some of the devotees do not experience it when their life is engulfed by worldly clouds.

Sai Nath maharaj often used to tell devotees at Shirdi in no uncertain terms that whosoever prays to him intensely and intimately would certainly receive His grace, help and experience.

Once the teacher - pupil emotional rapport is established, the pupil is bound to go through a series of alternative emotional experiences.

Sometimes he will feel flooded with loving emotions towards his master and sometimes he will feel a sense of emotional void.

This bipolar emotional situation is not due to the change in the mood of the master as perceived by devotees because a perfect master is a perfect soul.

The reason for such a feeling in the devotee lies in the devotee himself. Hence, whenever such a situation comes the devotee should not get bogged down under his own emotional pressures and feel frustrated.

Instead he should pray Baba to stabilize his emotions towards Him.

Every devotee should try to understand that a perfect master has a thousand things to do for benefit of innumerable number of devotees at the same time.

Therefore to expect that the emotional impulses of each devotee would be immediately reciprocated by the master is not the correct approach. Such an unstable mental state of the devotee indicates a lack of faith in the master.

If the devotee is convinced that the Sadguru is always busy in helping a large number of His devotees, at the same time, he (the devotee) should take care to see that he does not disturb the master for frivolous issues.

The master is best left to carry on His magnificent and universal work.

This understanding on the part of the devotee will make the master comfortable.

……“So far so good, but does it prove the end of the role of the Sadguru in relation to the souls that He had drawn towards Himself from far and near and with whom He had ‘Rinanubandha’, a karmic relationship established during many past lives?

Although, many religious and spiritual people hold the view that a master after leaving his human body cannot help the disciples yet in the case of Sri Sainath the experience of the disciples has been quite different.

I have had the opportunity of knowing some of the devotees of Baba who had been with Him before His departure. I have spoken with some of them and also got their experiences recorded through some ardent devotees.

All of them categorically confirmed that many unexplainable and miraculous events with relation to Baba are still happening around their existence as used to be earlier when Baba was there in His physical body at Shirdi.

Most of the books written on Baba’s life history and devotee’s experience undoubtedly establish the happening of certain miracles experienced by Sai devotees, not only before the departure of Baba but even today.

Earlier, there were thousands of devotees mostly confined to Maharashtra.

But, today the increase in the number of Sai devotees is an astounding phenomenon which is difficult to explain, but more difficult to deny. More than a thousand temples of Sri Sai have come up in India and hundreds are in the process of construction at various stages.

Where it is not possible for devotees to build Baba’s temples separately, small and big statues have been installed inside precincts of temple complexes housing other deities.

The activities concerning Sri Sainath today are so multi-dimensional and widespread, all over the country and abroad, that one cannot comprehend their total effect in the lives of the devotees and on the religious spiritual life of India and other places.

The researchers on Baba in India and other countries, who have written a number of books on Him, need to take up thorough research on this aspect.

This logically brings to mind one question - if after His departure, the spirit of Sri Sai is not active, then how are all these happening? Can it be believed to be a mere chance occurrence or is there a bigger or subtler law of nature, which is manifesting through these activities.

Any sensitive mind with some amount of understanding of the spiritual history of the world will surely perceive the reality of a quietly emerging Sai movement.

This movement is based on the principles of humanism, universalism, tolerance and mutual co-operation of the highest order.

These are principles on the basis of which any civilized society exists and any religion continues. We are all waiting for “dawning the Age of Sai” who, I believe, is the “Incarnation of the Age”.

In this decade the world will see the emergence of international Sai movement and hundreds of temples will be built in a number of countries.

History indicates that the role of the incarnations has been more pronounced after they had left their gross body.

The world needs someone to lead it and bring about unity among the strife-ridden and mutually intolerant religious, social and racial groups.

Sri Sai preached and practiced the unity of the highest order based on the principles of love and tolerance in the 19th century and the early part of the 20th century.

In this millennium it will lead the world in the path of peace and progress.”…….

Baba used to feed dogs even before He partook food. He extended His love to even a useless rock used for washing clothes by sitting on it.

Today that rock is seen in Dwarkamai and is worshipped by devotees who come there. People today should learn this and follow His teachings. To a great extent devotees are following this. People are seen distributing clothes, food, etc. to the poor Narayana seva is going on all over the world in various Sai centers.

2. Religious tolerance:

Shirdi Sai Baba looked after the Hindus and Muslims equally. We can find people of all religions coming to Him even now. He always preached that all are one and be alike to everyone. In today’s world there is lot of intolerance among the people of various religions. People must believe that all are humans. Faiths may be different but the goal is one. Shirdi Sai devotees are found to be very tolerant in this aspect. We find Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, Christians, etc sharing their views and talking with each other like real brothers in Shirdi and also at various Sai centers all over the world. They firmly believe that flowers may be many but worship is one. Stars may be many but light is one. Similarly paths may be different but goal is one.

3. Caste Harmony: Shirdi Sai never allowed people to have ill feelings towards the so called untouchables. He made Brahmins eat from leper’s plate or untouchable’s plates. When they felt loathsome to do the same He castigated them and preached them everything is Atma. If they hated them they are infact hating Him who is residing in them. People who believe in Baba should follow the same thing. Treat all mankind as brothers and live happily. Believe in brotherhood of man and fatherhood of God.

……“The main problem is the conviction of the people about their faith and surrender to Baba. The qualities, sacrifices and time needed for establishing closer contact with a Sadguru cannot be done in the way we do in our ordinary life with people around. In a social relationship people generally have a limited approach pre-calculating mutual benefit. Any deviation or non-fulfillment of anticipated reaction from the other side spoils and stops such a relationship easily. Today even in a family set-up, relationships in a large number of cases are built on such a considerations. These norms are changeable from society to society and from time to time. But when these norms are applied in relation to the spiritual world or in relation to a Sadguru, they become a non-starter from the beginning.

Bhakti Marg at its highest point leads to ‘surrender’. Surrender means giving-away our mind, body and soul to the deity or Sadguru. Having given, the devotee is to realize that what ever happens to his body, mind and soul is done by the Sadguru. Also, he has to use these three for the work of the Sadguru. Since anything and everything happening to him is done by the Sadguru, he has nothing to be happy about, nothing to be sorry about, nothing to complain against and nothing to desire - not only materially or mentally but also spiritually.

The state of actual surrender can be achieved by only a few among millions of spiritual aspirants over a few lives and that too, with the help and kindness of a Guru.

How many people, who say that they have surrendered to Baba fall in this category? Baba was once sitting in Dwarakamayee Masjid relating about his relationship with His Guru who had given Him severe tests. Baba was tied by His legs and hung in a well for a few hours. When the Guru on return asked him as to how he felt, Baba said that he felt fine. He had nothing to complain about and was content with what the Guru had done. In this context Baba asked the devotees sitting around Him as to how many of them can be His disciples in the way in which He was a disciple of His Guru. None had the courage to come up to that expectation.

Therefore simply to say, or show that one has surrendered is not good enough because a man who has surrendered will have no desires and no complaints. He would only follow the path laid down by Baba expressed in two words i.e. Shradha (Faith) and Saburi (Patience).

Shradha - Means devotional faith- faith that Baba is the almighty and Protector, - that both the good and the bad happening to the devotee’s life are controlled by Him,- to happily acknowledge and patiently tolerate all vicissitudes of life with equanimity,- to realize that Baba is always with him, around him,- to be able to sacrifice anything and everything for the cause of the Master in the manner prescribed by Him,- to follow His dictates in letter and spirit, whatever be the consequences,- to hold on to Baba exclusively and not to run to different deities / temples for different purposes.

Saburi - i.e. patience means following actions as mentioned before without complaint, either external or mental and live normally everyday with faith in Baba.

How many people can really do this? If not, one should think on the word ‘surrender’ continuously before considering himself to be a great devotee. It is wiser to think of what we can do for Baba’s work instead of thinking what Baba can do for us.

To get perfect association with a Perfect Master, the person concerned must be a perfect devotee. Baba used to say that a devotee will experience Him as per his bhava means inner thought process. Imperfect minds will reflect an imperfect image of the Sadguru and the person will get imperfect results. It is not easy to achieve this state of mind and it is also not correct to use the word surrender so easily without understanding its full implications. The better path would be to develop the qualities prescribed by the Sadguru gradually living in the world like an ordinary man enjoying and suffering happiness and unhappiness with the Guru in the heart.”…….

……“We must muse over our imperfections of yesterday and try to evolve towards a little more perfection. Knowing that no ordinary mortal is totally perfect, we try to find a model of perfection which is epitomized in a Sadguru or Perfect Master, and it is a truism in all times that the Perfect Master is at first a perfect man. Sri Sainath of Shirdi, the Perfect Master of the Age, standing as our model practiced and preached three things.He taught us that by expansion of our love to other fellow beings and even the other species one can consolidate society.

He also taught that rigorous and technical methods need not be used for spiritual upliftment. All that is needed is to bring about a qualitative change in one's way of thinking and way of working in daily life.

He brought about a cohesive theme amidst the opposing themes of inter-cultural, inter-religious and inter-sectorial groups. This He achieved by allowing each group to have its own mode ofliving, religious practices and cultural. He succeeded in bringing out a way of life at Shirdi, which reflected a confluence of varied cultures and religions.”…..

……“Pain and pleasure as defined by the rationalists are unwelcome and welcome experiences. When a man goes by this theory, he creates a small universe for himself in which he always tries to avoid pain and gain pleasure. In such a state of mind he restricts himself within his isotopic atomic individualism.

The universes created by God and the Laws of Nature running these universes have limited use for him or so he thinks. But this not being the reality, he faces a situation of double pain when confronted with pain - the first pain is the one physical or mental, given to him and the second pain is the disintegration of the universe which he has built up so strenuously throughout his life, during the evolution of his life. It takes a longer time for him to adjust with God’s Universe as his own.

However, those who view their little universes as parts of the God’s Universe are in a much better state. No doubt, they will also suffer pain of body or mind, which otherwise may be defined as disintegration but they will not see the breaking of their self-created little universe.

Numerous atoms and molecules are integrated to form the body and they are kept together by the life-force. An injury and death lead to partial or total disintegration of these body particles. One puts his life’s earnings in an integrated form in a bank account (i.e. adding one rupee to another) and when it exhausts, the life is disintegrated.

A person through a process of manipulation and exhibition has integrated many persons to believe that he is good and noble and basks in that glory for some time.

However, a single wrong action on his part has the potentiality of totally shattering this positive thought process of others. Human universes emanating out of their ego have the chance of disintegration.

Thus, disintegration of body and mind is a continuous process between the two terminal points called birth and death. With the death of his body his painfully arranged universe ends. However, the only non- disintegrating factor, i.e., the soul, after death goes back to the universe of God, leaving the universe of man, and is eternal.

To get into the universe of God, one has to break the universe of man. A sealed water container in an ocean needs to be broken if it’s water were to have universal expanse in the sea.

Most of the people I happen to meet are asking me for various components required to build their own little universe like a child, a house, a job, money or honour. They pray to Baba for the same although, their emotional attraction towards Him can’t be denied.

How unfortunate that the mighty divine power of attraction of Baba is converted to the attraction of money, job or land. The same spiritual force of Baba which can become the various forms of nature i.e., deities like Ganesh, Maruti etc., now is desired and prayed by devotees to convert into the state of money and land.

In the quintessence, those who pray Baba for money want to experience Him as money, those who pray for land will experience Him as land and those pray Him for women will experience Him as woman.

No doubt they are experiencing Baba, but at a much lower state of consciousness. Those who want to experience Him in a higher state will have to go beyond this state of mind.

If they have to experience His original state (Swaroop) they have to focus their concentration i.e., power of attraction to Baba only and not other objects. Then they will get Baba in His Swaroop i.e. the original eternal form, and not His changeable and convertible form like money, land etc.

What should be the correct path then? To help them to create their own universe or to help them to break their own universe and merge in the universe of Baba?

Theirs is a highly individualistic and egoistic universe created by illusion (Maya). Sri Sai has the ultimate answer for His children. But here I am, standing miles away from a lamp-post, can’t clearly see the midway figures (in their own universes) better than I see the lamp-post.”…….

The Sage of Shirdi, the Saibaba, emphasised two virtues for wellbeing: faith or shraddha and patience or saburi. The two virtues are complementary.

Each is both, the cause as well as the effect of the other; and both are the means as well as the end of the other. Between them they contain a complete code of conduct for life.

Shraddha is devotion. It is faith that helps one accept all happenings — the good and bad — with equanimity. Faith is what makes a disciple trust his guru and a child, its parent.

Saburi or patience is not just the ability to overcome the urge for instant gratification. Patience is not the art of ad hoc management of mental restlessness.

Patience is the intuition that inspires you to just be and wait for the will of God to unfold and work itself out. Patience helps you to live uncomplainingly, and so you are able to accept without anger what you know cannot be changed.

Patience is what enables a tree to let all its leaves fall without demur. The tree stands denuded, without a sense of shame, despondency or heartbreak. It stands as comfortably as ever. It lets the sun, the air, the rain and the season to work their magic. They denude it; they later laden it. The tree surrenders to them, not out of helplessness but out of natural design.

When the season turns, tender new leaves dress it with flowers and fruits in due course. Patience is not to stoically brave winter in the hope of spring; rather, it is to accept spring and winter alike. It is to surrender with a joyous heart to the will of God as represented by the current moment and condition.

Faith is the insight that tells you that patience and surrender to the will of God is the best course your life can take. Wisdom is in understanding and valuing both faith and patience. Patience is born of faith and in due course it serves to strengthen faith.

If patience and faith are so intricately woven, why did the sage emphasise these as two virtues? Why did he not advocate either this one or that? If faith is exclusively emphasised, it can promote blind belief. On the other hand, if patience is singularly emphasised, it can lead to the shirking of responsibility and indolence.

Patience without faith can become sloth. Faith minus patience can turn banal. Either way, the result will be counterproductive. In tandem, the two virtues uplift. If both patience and faith are required, which among these comes first? Where does one begin?

Asking which came first, patience or faith, is very similar to asking which came first, the egg or the chicken? It perhaps depends on an individual’s spiritual configuration as to which path suits his psyche best: faith or patience. Whichever route one may begin with, the two paths keep twinning and finally the two converge towards a common goal.

Does patience of the tree-type not kill enterprise? Surely not! Otherwise the tree would never grow and bring forth its wonderful flowers and fruits! Yet, yes: patience and faith, as they mature and begin to lodge in one’s mind, kill such enterprise as is inspired by sheer greed for material gain, unrelated to honest need.

Greed is contra life and nature. Is there any religion anywhere in the world that has upheld greedy enterprise and glorified it? No tree competes with its neighbour to double its output just to outperform the other. The supreme enterprise in life is self-realisation. Patience and faith proactively support this enterprise.

Like all great teachers Sai Baba has rightly been claimed as the Mother of all virtues.

Baba often told his devotees ''Your servant's servant.

l am your debtor". I am purified by your darshan.

It is a great grace on your part to have given Me the sight of your feet".

Lord Sai Baba often preached that the attitude of "I" and "Mine'' are the result of ignorance.

The right attitude born of knowledge is that God is the Master and that all things belongs to Him -

Once Rama asked Hanuman "How do you like on me? Hanuman replied. "0 Rama, as long as I have the feeling of "I", I see that you are the whole and I am a part, you are the Master and I am you". Thus the first step in the life of a devotee is humility.

Self surrender marks the next step of a devotee. A devotee has to surrender to God himself wholly and exclusively, including his five senses-Then he beco­mes a personal servant of God.

The entire responsi­bility for his Maintenance and protection is taken up by the Lord.

In BHAQVAD GlTA Lord Kriehna said

"0 Arjuna. take refuge in Me. I shall deliver you from all sins".

Lord Sai Baba also said, "Cast all your burdens on Me and I shall bear them',.

Also as prea­ched by Lord Krishna to Arjuna, Baba also said, "Do your duty and leave the rest to me" Because once the devotee becomes free from sin and misery, as all his actions are performed as divine duty without a thought for the result.

Let all the works be God's works all the thoughts, words and deeds are centered in God. Everyone should see God in every thing and every thing in God, loves all beings in the universe as manifestation of God.

Thus, the natural results of this self surrender are intense devotion towards God and love towards all beings in the universe, such a devotee has no disappointments in life and has no fear of death.

BABA often used to say that once a person has faith in God, he has achieved everything.

There is nothing greater than faith. The devotee's heart is full of virtues like forgiveness, spirit of non-vio­lence, Compassion and love.

Thus, these are the virtues of the hero and the characteristic of a true devotee is a courageous patience or Saburi as Sai Baba has put it.

Sainath said "surrender yourself comp­letely your body and soul to God.'' One, who has abundant faith (Nishta) and courageous patience (Saburi), will achieve anything what they want through the attainment of God Sai Baba

Patience is a divine virtue. Unfortunately, not only are we badly wanting in this divine virtue, but also we neglect it most foolishly.

Q. What is patience?

It is an inner assurance of Baba's unreserved love and unconditional guidance. Patience is Baba's power hidden in us to weather the teeming storms of life. Our fondest dreams will be transformed into fruitful realities if we just know the secret of growing the patience-tree in our heart. Patience is our sincere surrender to Baba's Will. This surrender is by no means the effacement of the finite self, which we now are, but the total transformation of your finite existence into the infinite Self.

Patience can never be imposed on us from outside. It is our own inner wealth, wisdom, peace and victory. Patience will never tell us that something is a hopeless task. Patience will only tell us either that we are not ready or that the time is not ripe. We may have the feeling that we are ready, but we have to know that our integral being, our whole being is not ready.

We have to feel that patience is not something passive. On the contrary, it is something dynamic. In patience, we develop our inner strength, our inner will power. It is true that if we have will power we can easily acquire patience. But it is equally true that when we have patience, our inner will power develops itself in a special way.

Perseverance is the ability to keep going in the face of continuous challenges. It is the ability to disregard distractions and to stay focused.

You may have to take detours to get to your end goal. But, as long as you persevere and realize that the detour is simply anotheralternative path in the direction of your goal, you will continue to move forward.

Those who see a detour as a reason to quit, lack perseverance. You will always face challenges as you work towards your goals. Your ability to persevere will determine your ultimate success!

It takes effort and belief to persevere and stay dedicated toaccomplish your goal. When you find yourself doubting whether theeffort is worth it, visualize how you will feel and what you will haveonce your goal is completed.